I advocate for and value five leadership qualities, namely communication, inspiration, confidence, creativity, and intuition. For instance, I believe in clear communication as key for the facilitation of a leader’s mission, vision, and objectives. According to Cliffe (2015), employees would want to follow a leader that makes them understand the goal and important of working towards its achievement. Second, confidence is another primary quality that idealizes leaders as reliable sources of judgment and answers during tough times. As a confident leader, I understand the importance of setting a desirable course, staying calm and confident (Cliffe, 2015).
Third, excellent leaders are an inspiration to their followers. Inspiration means that leaders have the ability get followers invested in the future of the hospital. Based on Frankel (2011), it is vital that leaders be inspirational in such a way that they can inspire followers. My fourth leadership quality is creativity. Here, it is always up to the leader to think outside the box when finding a solution to any problem. The idea here is that followers look to their leaders in troubled and challenging situations for guidance. Finally, I believe that excellent leaders are those that act on intuition. Such leaders recognize the fact that some situations differ from their theoretical conceptions. Thus, the initial decision of a leader is to take their time to create solutions that serve the best interests of their followers and organization (Frankel, 2011).
These are my true leadership qualities with little or no changes as applied to the textbook definition of my style as a situational leader. The situational leadership model works under the presumption that there exists no superior leadership style. Instead, leadership shows a strong dependence on dynamic situations. Through the above qualities, as a situational leader, I can assess my team and act based on the current situation. My understanding of this style and qualities is that they are derivatives of the requirements of successful team leadership. The flexibility present in this style advocates for the non-existence of fixed leadership traits (McCleskey, 2014).
My previous assignments describe situational leadership as a preferred style in nursing practice. This inference and the above review means that I can be however I want to be in finding appropriate solutions to current problems. Thus, I can use motivation, delegation, person management, inspiration, mentorship, flexibility, and direction to enhance both commitment and performance. There are instances I will use inspiration to get my followers into creativity utilization in the wake of active engagement at the facility level. The style brings out my dynamism in adjusting to the present and future nature of the organizational environment (McCleskey, 2014).
I aspire to be a leader that follows integrity, a clear vision and humility. By valuing integrity, I will not change my style just to benefit from a situation. According to Contino (2004, integrity requires that I adapt in ways that appropriately consider organizational interests as well as the goals in question. Second, having a clear vision means that I am aware of my team’s direction. This aspiration will allow me to identify and develop the effective ways of setting my strategies and behavior towards goal achievement. Finally, humility requires that I am mature enough to accept limitations and seek guidance from highly experienced followers. This trait offers the much-needed quality for superior team performance (Contino, 2004).
I will direct, mentor, participate, and delegate to maintain and further define my leadership style as well as my roles as a leader. First, the directing role will apply best in the event of followers that require constant supervision to enhance their development. As a leader, I will appropriately offer instructions on the required tasks and ways of performance. Second, mentorship, an extension of the directive approach, demands that I provide instructions and encourage less-experienced followers to take part in the decision-making process. Mentorship is less supervision and additional inspiration into action (McCleskey, 2014).
Third, participation means that I encourage teams to be exceptionally independent of the authority in task performance. This step would imply that I let my followers make routine decisions. Finally, delegation suggests that I make decisions based on the strengths and weaknesses of various employees. This insight will offer me the chance to assign tasks, so that capitalizes on those strengths and minimizes weaknesses. The ability to delegate will result in productivity and quality work (Frankel, 2011).
Lastly, I identify patient-centeredness, employee empowerment and flexibility as three topmost organizational trends I will integrate into my role as a leader. Tsai (2011) states that facilities are increasingly focusing their organizational structure in the creation of outcomes that customers deem valuable. In my role as a leader, I will identify characteristics and features that challenge my vision in the achievement of patients’ needs (Tsai, 2011).
Second, employee empowerment supports the leadership evidence that responsible employees have a high likelihood of superior job performance. As a nurse leader, I intend to place my employees in teams that are similar based on experience and expertise. According to Tsai (2011), these teams will take charge of identifying and carrying out challenging tasks. Finally, adaptability respects the idea that flexible employees can adapt to change for increased efficiency in the current workplace. As a leader, I will focus on the creation of an organization that concentrates on efficient activity coordination as opposed to hierarchal governance (Tsai, 2011).
References
Cliffe, S. (2015, November). “Leadership Qualities” vs. Competence: Which Matters More? Retrieved from The Harvard Business Review : https://hbr.org/2015/11/leadership-qualities-vs-competence-which-matters-more
Contino, D. (2004). Leadership Competencies: Knowledge, Skills, and Aptitudes Nurses Need to Lead Organizations Effectively. Critical Care Nurse, Vol 24, Iss 3, 52-64.
Frankel, A. (2011). What Leadership Styles should Senior Nurses Develop . Nursing Times, Vol 104, Iss 35, 23-24.
McCleskey, A. (2014). Situational, Transformational, and Transactional Leadership and Leadership Development. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, Vol 5. Iss, 4, 117-130.
Tsai, Y. (2011). Relationship between Organizational Culture, Leadership Behavior and Job Satisfaction. BMC Health Services Research, vol 11, Iss 98, DOI: 10.1186/1472-6963-11-98.
